When Iowa wrestling's NCAA finalist streak was in question, Drake Ayala remained steady

KANSAS CITY — There was noise surrounding the Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling program for a good portion of this season.

The Hawkeyes, despite being behind Penn State in many facets, hold one of the most impressive streaks in college wrestling. Dating back to 1990, when future coaches Tom and Terry Brands made the finals and won titles at the NCAA Championships, Iowa had always had at least one wrestler in the finals. Even when things began to falter under Jim Zalesky with seventh- and eighth-place team finishes in 2003 and 2004, the Hawkeyes still found a way to get Steve Mocco and Cliff Moore into the finals.

After Penn State's thrashing of Iowa in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, with then-No. 1 Real Woods dropping his match, the buzz about losing the finals streak was palpable. If the preseason No. 1 at 141 pounds couldn't do it, who would?

Through it all, 125-pound sophomore Drake Ayala remained confident.

"When I wrestle like Drake Ayala and I open up, I'm hard to beat," the Fort Dodge native said.

Iowa preserved history as Ayala ankle-picked and single-leg attacked his way to the 125-pound final.

It's remarkable that 125 is the weight class that kept Iowa's streak intact. It’s been an unpredictable division this season. Seven different wrestlers have stood atop Flowrestling's rankings in the No. 1 spot. Of those seven, Ayala and Lock Haven's Anthony Noto were the only ones to make the semifinals, and four of them did not even reach All-American status. With the exception of 184 pounds, where three-time NCAA champion Carter Starocci defeated No. 1 Mekhi Lewis as the No. 9 seed, the 125-pound class was the only class that did not have its No. 1 seed at least reach the semifinals.

After a season of chaos, the 125-pound bracket found a way to out-do itself here in Kansas City. No. 3 seeded Ayala found a way to emerge from that and reach Saturday night's finals.

In the quarterfinals, Ayala had a shot-for-shot remake of his match earlier in the season with Oklahoma State's Troy Spratley. Spratley looked to get outside the mat for a reset as Ayala dug in deep on a single-leg shot. Ayala drug Spratley back toward the center and got in control for a 4-1 sudden victory to get to the semifinals.

That set him up with a semifinals match with Wisconsin's Eric Barnett, a former All-American who accused Ayala of purposely skipping the dual against the Badgers to avoid him for seeding purposes. Again, Ayala was in on a single-leg takedown. He looked to have control, but the referees went to the monitor to review. After a lengthy check that went on for several minutes, they awarded Ayala the takedown in the first period and he rode out for a 3-2 win on that action.

"He's been a winner since he was a little baby boy," Iowa coach Tom Brands said. "That's continuing on into his college career. We love it."

Ayala, a sophomore, brushed off Barnett's match-ducking allegations. He defeated Barnett for the second time this season and turned his focus to Saturday's final vs. No. 8 Richard Figueroa of Arizona State. Figueroa was the No. 1 pound-for-pound recruit in the 2021 recruiting class. Ayala said he wrestled Figueroa twice in high school and they split those matches.

Ayala accomplished something historic by preserving something his coaches Tom and Terry Brands started all the way back in 1990 at 126 and 134 pounds. Thirty-four years later, Tom Brands has his 30th NCAA finalist with the Hawkeyes.

The Hawkeye head coach often finishes his responses to reporters’ questions with a “How’s that?” On Friday night in the press conference, with Ayala and the Brandses now being the bookends of this streak, the moment came full circle when Ayala previewed his match with Figueroa.

"It's going to be a rubber match for our childhood dreams, how's that?" Ayala said.

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.